(1) Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp device for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a combination lamp in which there are provided a plurality of lamps each of which has a different indication function, such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp and a blinking lamp, in a single housing.
(2) Description of the prior art
Referring to FIG. 5 a conventional combination lamp device is shown. In the conventional combination lamp device a, a transparent and non-colored outer lens b is mounted on a lamp base a', and the inside portion of the lamp device a is divided into three sections d, e and f by using two walls c made of a light blocking material. The section d located at the left hand side in FIG. 5 is adapted to be used for a blinking signal lamp g, and there is disposed an amber inner lens d' at the inside of the outer lens b. The section e located at the center of the lamp base a' is adapted to be used for a tail and stop lamp h, and there is disposed a red inner lens e' at the center section e. The section f located at the right hand side in FIG. 5 is adapted to be used for a back-up i, and there is disposed a clear color inner lens f' at the right section f. The lamps g, h and i are disposed in the sections d, e and f respectively, for being actuated by current from an electric power source independently to indicate the respective functions.
In the above described conventional lamp device, since the lamp base a' is divided into plural sections by using the light-insulating or blocking walls for effecting plural indications, each section should be fixedly used for each indicating function. However, the space for installing the lamp device of this type is usually limited to a comparatively small area of a motor vehicle, and therefore, it is necessary to share plural sections within the limited small area. For example, to increase the illumination surface at the central section for the tail and stop lamp h to thereby increase the visual performance by which one can easily acknowledge the illumination light from the illumination surface, both areas of the illumination surfaces for the blinking signal lamp and the back-up lamp should be undesirably decreased respectively.